CCE’s Top 10 Under 40: Aydin Pisirici

Photo courtesy Arup.

This year, for the second time, Canadian Consulting Engineer launched an initiative to recognize up-and-coming consulting engineers across the country. We are now showcasing them on our website, in alphabetical order by surname.

Aydin Pisirici, 38, is an associate principal and structural discipline lead for Arup. He was born in the U.K. and grew up in Turkey.

As Pisirici explains, he inherited an interest in engineering from his father, while his mother—who had moved from the U.K. from Turkey—inspired his wanderlust.

“It was always in me to travel and I have always been adventurous,” he says.

He first encountered Arup during a university interview, where he heard about the firm’s pre-university training scheme. Pisirici applied, was accepted and subsequently was sponsored by Arup to attend university.

Since joining Arup, he has worked as a structural engineer in offices and on job sites throughout the U.K., Middle East and Canada.

“My first project as a graduate was the Qatar National Museum (QNM),” he says. “We were pushing boundaries in automation, building information modelling (BIM) and parametric modelling, doing things that were not the norm at the time.”

While in the U.K., Pisirici worked on the Leadenhall building, designing and analyzing the unique tower’s main frame. Subsequently, he was offered another full-time role on the QNM project.  He spent a year on-site and then joined Arup’s Doha office.

“Working in a small team allowed me to be involved in all aspects of the business, from technical delivery to winning work,” he recalls.

It was also in Qatar that he met his Canadian wife. After a temporary stint in Toronto and another in the Middle East, restoring the Qasr Al Hosn Fort—the oldest stone building in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.—as a museum, Pisirici settled in Toronto for the longer term.

As a discipline lead, he manages a diverse team of more than 30 structural engineers, whose recent projects have ranged from the Royal Victoria Hospital redevelopment at Montreal’s McGill University to Toronto Finch West light-rail transit (LRT) line, still in development. He is particularly passionate about helping architects and developers realize their vision through efficient structures and the reduction of embodied carbon.